The robbers of the Byng Street Local Store and Cafe in Orange took the time to leave a note apologising for their behaviour.
BRAZEN thieves who robbed a cafe in a country town taking off with hundreds of dollars in cash and stock left behind a bizarre apology note blaming, you know, poverty.
Jeremy Norris, the owner of the Byng St Local Store cafe, in Orange in the NSW central west, said he was speechless after finding the hand-written justification for the robbery, particularly as the culprits signed off saying they were convinced they wouldn’t be caught.
“Why would you leave a note? It’s just taking the piss really, it’s rubbing salt into the wounds,” he told news.com.au.
Mr Norris found the note after a pop-up cafe, which the company was using while the main cafe was being refurbished, was broken into on February 5.
“We discovered it in the morning, nothing was disturbed and it was all very neat and tidy and they left the note in the till.”
The note read: “I’m so sorry … poverty and addiction is to blame.
It concludes: “I will not be around to be caught.”
The thieves allegedly made off with the $200 float in the register and at least $100 from the tip jar. Mr Norris said they also hot footed it with $400 worth of food from the cafe.
“These were connoisseur criminals who took all of the beautiful Barossa Valley hams as well as some cheese. Pretty much a whole food delivery had been swiped.”
Jeremy Norris, of Orange’s Byng St Local Store and CafeSource:News Corp Australia
WEARING THIN
Mr Norris said the company, which also runs the Endsleigh cafe in Orange and a coffee cart, had been vandalised or robbed multiple times in the last year. His own home was broken into earlier this week.
“We weren’t there and they came in and took out anything of value. A music system, the big telly, iPads, all that stuff. That’s all easy to replace but they took some things my late father had left me which cannot be replaced.”
He said he was rapidly losing his patience with some of the more unsavoury elements in the otherwise rural idyll.
“Nuts and bolts, I’ve been in Orange now for four years and I was looking forward to a nice place to live and to start up a business but over the last 12 months we’ve been broken in and vandalised seven times. It’s just rife and it’s starting to wear pretty thin.
“I don’t see how it’s all going to change, it’s got to come from the top.”
He said the note, where the thieves suggested the robbery really wasn’t their fault, was symptomatic of a wider problem.
“We’re turning into a blame-blame society. No one’s responsible for their own actions and they know if they get caught they will get a slap on the wrist so how does it stop without putting cameras in windows and sirens in bars?”
The business has suffered from robberies or vandalism seven time in 12 months. Picture: supplied.Source:Supplied
JOBS
While the theft may have amounted to less than $1000, the sheer number of incidents the business had suffered meant they were in the process of installing $15,000 worth of extra security including souped up CCTV.
Mr Norris said he employed 40 people in Orange but if the thefts continued, and his losses rose, he’d have to reconsider whether the business in its current form was feasible.
“My staff are my responsibility and my priority is trying to do the right thing but it makes you wonder, do you consolidate and narrow things down and concentrate on one business, which reduces jobs?”
Canobolas Local Area Command crime manager Bruce Grassick said police were investigating the incident and could not rule out drugs being a factor, reported the Central Western Daily.
“A large amount of property crime is related to drugs,” he said.
“We have seen a significant amount of drugs, particularly methamphetamines, in the community but also in Cowra and satellite cities but it is no different to any other regional centre.”
0 nhận xét:
Đăng nhận xét